STS-114 MCC Status Report #09

SUBMITTED BY ATHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
STS-114 MCC Status Report #09
Saturday, July 30, 2005 – 4 p.m. CDT
Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas
Space Shuttle Discovery’s heat protective tiles and thermal blankets
have been pronounced fit for entry after engineers reviewed the imagery
and other data to judge their health. Analysis remains on the reinforced
carbon carbon wing leading edges and the protruding gap fillers
identified earlier. Aerodynamics experts are evaluating the effect on
surface heating that the gap fillers may cause to decide whether any
work is necessary to reduce their size.
Mission managers today also decided to extend Discovery’s mission by one
day to spend more time docked with the International Space Station.
Astronauts are busy transferring more water and supplies to the ISS in
case the next Shuttle mission is delayed. An additional 10 gallons of
water was transferred along with a pair of laptop computers and other
supplies.
Astronauts Steve Robinson and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency wrapped up a successful 6-hour, 50-minute spacewalk
at 11:36 a.m. Saturday, completing a demonstration of Shuttle thermal
protection repair techniques and enhancements to the Station’s attitude
control system.
For the repair demonstration, they worked with tiles and reinforced
carbon-carbon intentionally damaged on the ground and brought into space
in Discovery's cargo bay. They tested an Emittance Wash Applicator for
tile repair and Non-Oxide Adhesive eXperimental (NOAX) for the
reinforced carbon-carbon samples.
Helped by Astronaut Andy Thomas, who served as a coach and monitor from
Shuttle's aft flight deck, they also installed a base and cabling for a
stowage platform and rerouted power to Control Moment Gyroscope-2
(CMG-2), one of four 600-pound gyroscopes that control the orientation
of the Station in orbit.
CMG-2 has been healthy, but a faulty circuit breaker interrupted its
power supply in March. Since that time the Station had operated
successfully on two CMGs. About 9:20 a.m. Mission Control told the
astronauts they saw power again flowing to CMG-2. Plans call for it to
be spun up to its 6,600 rpm operating speed over the next several hours
and subsequently put back into the attitude control mix. Another
gyroscope, CMG-1 which failed in 2002, is to be replaced Monday on the
second of three spacewalks. They also replaced a faulty global
positioning system antenna on the Station.
The spacewalk began at 4:26 a.m., after deliberate preparations delayed
the planned start. The Station crew, Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA
Science Officer John Phillips, had moved the orbiting laboratory's
Canadarm2 into position to help Noguchi and Robinson's work. Discovery
Pilot Jim Kelly and Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence ran the arm,
helping the spacewalkers install the stowage platform base.
The spacewalkers had time for some get-ahead tasks near the end of their
spacewalk, bringing in two experiments that exposed a variety of
materials samples to the harsh vacuum and extreme temperatures of space.
Noguchi also photographed some insulation on the port side of
Discovery's cabin.
Hatches between the Station and Discovery had been closed in preparation
for the spacewalk. Once hatches were reopened, remaining crewmembers,
Eileen Collins and Mission Specialist Charlie Camarda, went about other
tasks, including transfer of cargo from the Shuttle to the Station.
Among those tasks was another survey of parts of Discovery's thermal
protection system by the Shuttle's robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom
Sensor System. Kelly and Camarda, operating the arm, focused their
attention on seven areas of interest along the leading edge of
Discovery's port wing.
After analysis of many images taken of Discovery during and after its
launch, including information from previous surveys like the one done
Saturday, no damage that would threaten a safe landing by the Shuttle
has been identified. About 25 dings have been seen on Discovery,
compared to a mission average of 145 in missions before Columbia's loss.
The next STS-114 mission status report will be issued after crew wakeup
Saturday night, or earlier if event warrant.
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